Barnett Charles Gilson

Today, I was going through my old research notes, and came across an article in my research notes for the burial of B. Gilson.

The Lilydale Express Friday January 21 1938Burial of the late B. Gilson
Respected in life, the late Barney Gilson was honoured in death when
the funeral took place at the Lilydale Cemetery last Friday. A large
cortege, embracing a good muster of returned soldiers, followed the remains
to the last resting place. Messrs C Northwood, B Blundell, W
Cooper and F. Hirst acting as coffin bearers. Over the flag covered
casket, the the Rev. J. R. Edmonds conducted the burial service of the Baptist
Church and delivered a short address, the Rev. F. E. H Tolhurst following
with the brief Service of the R.S.S.L.L.A whereupon the diggers present filed
past and dropped the poppies they were wearing into the open grave. The impressive
ceremony wound up by Mr. W. Sherman sounding the Last Post. Wreaths
from several local organisations were forwarded, and quite a number of
institutions which had received the benefit of the deceased’s help
were represented.

My 2x great grandfather, Joseph Whimpey, came to Australia with his brother John. John had a son Joseph Whimpey who married Martha Freeman. After Joseph died in 1892, Martha remarried, to a Barnett Charles Gilson, in 1900. Martha died in 1917 in Mansfield.

I had found a death entry for a Barnett Charles Gilson in 1938 at Lilydale, aged 61. His parents were Charles Gilson and Margaret McCormac. I also found a birth entry for a Charles Barnett Gilson in 1878 in Richmond, Victoria which matched the death entry.

My dilemma is that on the marriage certificate for Barnett and Martha Whimpey nee Freeman his birthplace was listed as Adelaide, South Australia, he was listed as being 29 years old (indicating a birth year of 1871), and his parents were listed as Charles Gilson and Maggie Lister. This caused me to wonder – was the Barnett born in 1878 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia the same person who married Martha Whimpey?

I then tried the Victorian Birth Death Marriage indexes for any entries for Barnett and Annie’s children, and found a death entry for Herbert Richard William Gilson in 1983 at Lilydale, age 65 (reg no 3108). His parents were Barnett Charles Gilson and Annie Mary Langley, and he had been born in Cardiff Wales:

This led me on a search for the marriage certificate for Barnett and Annie. On Ancestry, I found a couple of Public Member Trees that mentioned a World War 1 certificate for him, so I then did a search on the National Archives Australia website for his war record.

I did a search just for the surname Gilson, and the first record that came up was

Another indication that the Barnett Charles Gilson, born in 1878 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia was in fact the same person as the Barnet Charles Gilson who married Martha Whimpey, nee Freeman, (apart from the fact that it is an uncommon name), is the entries on the Australian Electoral rolls collection at Ancestry:

The Electoral rolls show that Martha remained in Mansfield until her death, but Barnett was no longer in Mansfield in 1912 – which corresponds with a Barnett Gilson now appearing in Foster.

Barnett disappears completely from the Electoral rolls during the time period of 1914 to 1919 – which corresponds with him being in the UK during his service in the First World War. He then reappears in 1924 in Lilydale, as Barney Charles Gilson, with his wife, Mary Annie Selina Gilson.

I decided to keep searching, and found a death entry on the Victorian Birth Death Marriage indexes for a Charles Gilson who died in 1920 at Sale, aged 69 years. His parents were unknown. However, a search of the Australian Electoral rolls shows that this Charles appears to have been living at Sale as early as 1903, and therefore is not the same person who married Martha Whimpey, nee Freeman.

The information I have found indicates that the Barnett Charles Gilson, who was born in 1878 at Richmond, was the same person as the Barnett Charles Gilson, who married Martha Whimpey in 1900. But it leaves me with the question, why didn’t he give the correct details on his marriage certificate?

Related

Share this:

Post navigation

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 151 other followers

New to family history?

In the beginner's guide , you can find tips and resources to help you start researching your family

Need ideas where to look next?

In the Resources section, I have set up details about many of the resources I have used in my research. I have also written a number of posts about various resources, which can be found under the Resources category